BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns aren't going the traditional route of naming Team Captains for the season this year, opting instead to have weekly Game Captains that will be announced before each new matchup, head coach Todd Monken said on Monday.
As the Browns prepare for their first game of the 2026 season on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Monken laid out his plan for captains this season.
"We're going to have weekly captains. So it'll vary week to week. And then at the end of the year, the players will vote on the permanent 2026 captains," Monken said. "Each week will be different. Each week we'll allow two offense, two defense, and a special teams captain each week."
The weekly game captains will be voted on and decided by the coaches, with the final Team Captains at the end of the year decided on by the players.
So who are the captains for Week 1 against the Jaguars?
The two offensive captains are quarterback Deshaun Watson and offensive lineman Zion Johnson. The two defensive captains are cornerback Tyson Campbell and defensive tackle Mason Graham. And the special teams captain is longsnapper Rex Sunahara.
Monken said that he decided to go the route of weekly captains due to having such a young roster and not being ready, given how things stand, to name permanent captains. Some of that stems from ongoing position battles, like across the offensive line. While Monken didn't explicitly say it, some of it may be based on the real possibility of change at quarterback if things don't start well for Watson as he looks to step up and have his first healthy and productive season with Cleveland. Some of it stems from giving more guys opportunities to develop as team leaders.
"I just like it that way. I think we have a fairly young team. I'm not ready to name guys that are permanent for us. I do think it's cool for players to go out for the coin toss. I think it's really cool. I think most teams have more leaders than just four or five guys. I just believe that. I believe that with each game, you reward guys for the week that they've had and that's what we're going to do," Monken said.
